Freedom or Terror

In September 2001, Europeans might have felt comfortable in thinking that Al-Qaeda was only a scourge to the United States; some presumably indulged in the unkind speculation that the United States had only itself to blame. That innocence is now gone. Europeans have faced their own terror: the bombings in Madrid and London, the suitcase bomb in Germany and the Sauerland trial, the riots in France, the anti-Danish violence, and repeated threats against politicians and intellectuals who dared speak out. Europe, however, has discovered its homegrown problem and is working to find a response to terrorism. But the European response has been by no means monolithic, instead being complex, varying from country to country and across the political spectrum.